Top Holiday Toys This Year Are Quite The Throwback

What’s old is new again. Each year, parents and forecasters alike try to figure out in advance what the hot holiday toy is going to be. Early contenders this year included Baby Yoda and Squeakee The Balloon Dog. There’s no doubt those will still be popular (especially since Baby Yoda was not even available when the character became an internet sensation last Christmas), but it looks like the real way to win the holidays this year will be to go retro.

According to the Washington Post, “instead of perusing the toy aisle or trading notes during playdates, parents are drawing on their own childhoods for inspiration.” Some of the most popular products so far this shopping season are Legos, Barbies, Tonka trucks, and Hot Wheels. It turns out that when children aren’t together to socialize, and when there is a dearth of new content on kid-friendly stations like Nickelodeon, it’s hard for trends to truly develop. The surefire way for parents to know what all the kids are asking for this year is to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Absent that, it’s pretty much guesswork as to whether the Present Pets or the Vango goggles will be better received. Moreover, without playdates or in some cases even elementary school, your child wouldn’t be able to show off her new toy anyway. You might as well get her something that you yourself enjoyed at that age, knowing that it had the ability to spark joy all those years ago.

Popular toys this year include:

Tonka Classic Steel Mighty Dump Truck Vehicle, Single, Standard Packaging — $48.26

Barbie Play ‘n’ Wash Pets Playset with Blonde Doll, 3 Color-Change Animals a Puppy, Kitten and Bunny and 10 Pet and Grooming Accessories, Gift for 3 to 7 Year Olds — $19.99

Hot Wheels 20 Car Gift Pack (Styles May Vary), Multicolor, 7.6″ T — $16.99

In addition to keeping the toy industry during uncertain economic times, hopefully the reemergence of old favorites will encourage parents to get down on the ground and play with their children. In the hectic pre-COVID world, it was all too easy to let the TV or the iPad do most of the work of entertaining the little ones. Perhaps quality time spent together will be the real Christmas winner in 2020.